Bedside erythrocyte washing was clinically feasible and greatly reduced concentrations of soluble factors thought to be associated with transfusion-related adverse reactions, increasing concentrations of cell-free hemoglobin while maintaining acceptable (less than 0.8%) hemolysis.
Bubbles in the bloodstream are not a normal condition - yet they remain a fact of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), having been extensively studied and documented since its inception some 50 years ago.
